


The Trickster's Lightning

by Takara_Phoenix



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Jason-Centric, Leo and Percy are foster brothers, Luke's not a traitor, M/M, Pining, Shounen-ai, Slash, greek!Jason, roman!Nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 15:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3451850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takara_Phoenix/pseuds/Takara_Phoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason is Greek. Both Graces are full-blooded siblings, children of Zeus.</p><p>It's the di Angelos who have been fathered by two different aspects of the same god instead, making Nico the praetor of Camp Jupiter.</p><p>While Jason grows up with Thalia, Luke and Annabeth on the run, ending up at Camp Half-Blood and growing up to become its hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Trickster's Lightning

PJatO || Lukson || PJatO || The Trickster's Lightning || PJatO || Lukson || PJatO

Title: The Trickster's Lightning – A Different Kind of Grace

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, fluff, jealousy, twisted canon, underage, shoujo-ai, hetero

Main Pairing: Luke/Jason

Side Pairings: Nico/Percy, Ethan/Alabaster/Leo, Jake/Will, Malcolm/Katie, Chris/Clarisse, Charles/Silena, Grover/Juniper

Percy Jackson Characters: Luke Castellan, Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Lou Ellen, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Clarisse la Rue, Silena Beauregard, Drew Tanaka, Charles Beckendorf, Nyssa Black, Leo Valdez, Jake Mason, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Malcolm Cage, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Grover Underwood, Juniper, Tyson, Chiron

Summary: In a world where the Graces are both Greek and the di Angelos are from two different aspects of their father, Nico rose up to become the praetor and hero of Camp Jupiter. Jason all the while grew up with Annabeth and Luke at Camp Half-Blood after Thalia got turned into a tree, crushing on Luke. So when the Second Great Prophecy rolls around, things are a little different.

**The Trickster's Lightning**

_A Different Kind of Grace_

Thalia Grace hated her home and her always-drunk mother who was obsessively living in the past, in her glorious days. The only good thing she had in her life was her baby brother Jason. The little blonde sat on her lap, giggling as he played with his favorite stuffed teddy.

"Let's run away, Jay", whispered Thalia into his ear, hugging him close. "Let's find a safe place to live. A better place. A better family. Let's take Teddicus and run."

Jason bit his lips, staring from Teddicus the teddy bear over to his big sister and in the end, his eyes rested on their passed-out mother, still with the wine bottle in hand. "Okay, Thally."

/break\

When Luke had been fourteen, he had been on the run. Running as far away from home as possible, wishing for a better life. A life with people in it, people who loved him. Little did he know that this was soon to happen. He was exhausted and tired and hungry when he collapsed on the ground.

He was in a forest, camping away from humans. He had stolen some bread and a salami in the city earlier, which meant he was actually going to get a proper meal this time around. But when he lazily wanted to grab for the bread, he touched another hand. Suddenly sitting up, he came face to face with a black-haired girl with electric blue eyes. She glared at him.

"You just tried to steal from me", pointed Luke out, blinking a couple of times.

He was pointing his sword at the girl and judging by the way she stared at him fearfully, she saw the sword for what it truly was. But before Luke had a chance to ask or strike, a little body threw himself at Luke, throwing him off-balance. When he looked up, he saw a little child, five years old, with messy blonde hair and electric blue eyes. The kid looked fierce and upset.

"No hurting my sister! She just wanted the food for me!", declared the boy determined.

"Jason!", hissed the girl and grabbed the little blonde around the waist to lift him up.

"No, wait", called Luke before the two siblings could leave. "We can... share..."

He wasn't sure why he had said it, but something about the angry little boy reminded him of himself and seeing that he had someone who loved him, maybe that made Luke yearn even more for people in his life. He couldn't remember the last time he had met other demigods and those two obviously were. The girl glared at him suspiciously. Luke shrugged and broke the bread.

"It's... enough for all of us. Besides, the squirt is tiny and you are skinny, you need food."

"I'm... Thalia. This is my brother Jason", said the girl slowly, still unsure.

But she eagerly took the offered bread and gave more than half of it to her baby brother. When Luke looked at Thalia and Jason at that moment, he didn't know that he was looking at his future best friend and his future boyfriend. But he knew this was the beginning of something great.

/break\

Thalia had been reluctant of the blonde guy at first. After all, what kind of stranger would share his food and shelter with two runaway kids? Then again, he seemed to be a runaway kid himself. She only started trusting him one night, a night where Jason was early passed out in her lap.

"Do you know who your godly parent is?", asked Luke, poking the fire with a stick.

"Godly what now?", asked Thalia and looked up at him like he was crazy.

"Your dad or your mom, which one is a Greek god?", clarified Luke, cocking one eyebrow.

Let's say that had been the start of a very long conversation. But it explained so much. Like how Thalia often had to pick up Jason from a tree whenever he played Superman. He claimed he flew up there, but she had never really believed it, had thought _that_ was still part of the game. Their control over electricity and the wind, well, Luke had soon figured out that they were children of Zeus. The godfather of Olympus. The Big Guy. Of course he wouldn't even have the time to introduce himself to his children. Thalia grew angry, but after she learned of Luke's story, she felt... less alone. Which was a new feeling. All her life, she had only had herself and Jason. But hearing that Luke's mother was as useless as their own, that his godly father (god of thieves, tricksters and trouble, basically, hello, awesome!) was as nonexistence as theirs, well, she finally knew they weren't the only ones whose family sucked. In fact, after that night, she even felt as though she had the better life. Because she had Jason. Hugging the tiny blonde close to her, she fell asleep that night.

/break\

Truth was, Jason and Thalia quickly became Luke's family. They stuck together and traveled and slayed monsters side by side. Over the course of this time, Luke had developed a special protectiveness over their youngest member. Because Jason was just too damn adorable and he felt responsible over him like a big brother. And Thalia had become someone Luke could finally share his life and thoughts with, someone listening to him. A best friend and partner in crime.

Things got a little more complicated when they took Annabeth in, but honestly, that blonde-curled little angel was all alone and how could they not take her in? Okay, so maybe the main reason why Luke had agreed were those large, begging electric-blue eyes. A down side of agreeing to traveling with Thalia and Jason was that Thalia liked to boss him around and Jason really had him wrapped around his little finger and Luke found himself unable to deny him anything. So Jason got the second big sister he had wished for in Annabeth and the two of them were soon joined by the hip.

/break\

Annabeth hated her stepmother who treated her like a freak and her stepbrothers who were just too tiny to even comprehend anything. She was too clever for all of them and she... she _knew_ things, things they would never understand. Like how there were monsters, real monsters.

Being a little girl and living on the streets was hard. At least until she had run into her new family. Luke and Thalia were like a new set of parents, a set of parents who trusted her, cared for her and _believed_ her. When she told them that there was a giant hound chasing her, they'd draw their weapons instead of patting her head in a patronizing way. And then there was Jason, who was a _way_ better little brother than Bobby or Matthew ever could be. Jason was awesome and he could fry things with his _mind_. He was her new little brother and she was determined to keep him safe, under all and any circumstances. He was her responsibility.

"You think those two are going to hook up when they're older?", whispered Thalia suspiciously.

"No", snorted Luke and shook his head. "As likely as you and me hooking up."

"Ew", shuddered Thalia with a playful grin.

Both were staring at the two younger demigods. The four of them were in a tent, Thalia and Luke preparing what little food they had for the night while Annabeth and Jason were laying on the ground, giggling and playing with some wooden figurines Luke had carved for them.

What neither of them knew was that this would be their last night together.

/break\

Thalia cursed beneath her breath as she ran – as fast as possible. She was pulling Annabeth along, holding tightly onto the little girl's hand. Only for a second did she allow herself to look over at Luke. Good, the son of Hermes had Jason tightly clutched to his chest, carrying the boy. Jason had fallen earlier and hit his head. It was still bleeding, but right now, right now they didn't have the time to stop and take care of this. A cyclops was chasing them and it was _really_ not helping that a satyr was with them because it seemed that satyrs were a tasty treat to cyclopses. And so were demigods, apparently. This Grover-guy had shown up, early this morning, babbling on about some camp and safety. Safety sounded good. Camp sounded suspicious. But the cyclops attacking them had taken any decision from the two leaders. Safety was their new top priority, because there was no way she or Luke would let some cyclops eat either Jason or Annabeth.

And now they were running, running as fast as they could. But it wasn't fast enough and while she could see Luke and Jason reaching the supposedly magic borders, she was still too far away from them and too close to the cyclops. At this rate, neither of the girls would make it. Annabeth stared up at her with those impossibly large gray eyes and in that second, she knew what she had to do. She had to protect Annabeth. Pushing the blonde away from her – toward the border, closer to Luke – she turned around and charged at the monster. She'd win Annabeth enough time to get to safety.

"Run, Annabeth. Now", ordered Thalia before closing her eyes and thrusting her sword into him.

/break\

Luke was adamant on hating Camp Half-Blood and the gods. Thalia was a tree. His best friend was a fucking tree because of them. All he honestly wanted was to leave this place behind again. But he had to think of Annabeth and Jason and they seemed to like this place. They were also much safer in here, behind the magical borders and far away from the monsters outside. This place also crossed some important problems off his list, like having trouble finding food for himself and his little family, or a dry place to sleep. It was probably better to be here. Still, every time he walked past Thalia's tree, he felt bitter for losing his best friend. Though camp had also some positive things for Luke to offer. Even though Hermes Cabin was crowded, there were people he had learned to care about. Like the Stoll-brothers and Chris and Alabaster and Ethan.

But he hated that he couldn't live with Annabeth and Jason. Annabeth was in the Athena Cabin and okay, Luke was happy that she made friends there – it seemed she especially got along well with a boy named Malcolm. But Jason? The poor boy had to live all alone in this giant cabin, all marble, no comfort. Luke hated that. His little Jay deserved a good home.

"Okay, guys. Did you get everything?", whispered Luke with a mischievous grin.

Chris, Travis and Connor had helped him – all four of them had sneaked out of camp to go and steal some furniture and accessories. Luke had send Annabeth to take Grover with her and go and play with Jason. So right now, Luke had his friends from the Hermes Cabin gathered in Cabin One to redecorate Jason's place. Aside from the four sons of Hermes, there were also Ethan, Alabaster and Lou. Ethan was pretty cool, a son of Nemesis. While the other two were children of Hecate – they had _magic_. Real, proper magic. Luke found that to be something completely baffling. But he didn't get how Poseidon's and Hera's cabins were _empty_ – Hera's never to be used anyway – and Zeus' only hosting Jason, while those children of minor gods had to cramp in with the Hermes kids. It was unfair and insulting to the children of minor gods, as though they were worth less than others. Which was _not_ true, because Alabaster using his magic was far more impressive than Castor and Pollux growing strawberries. Maybe it was his way of thinking that had made him befriend Ethan, Alabaster and Lou so fast, but either way, they were some of his closest friends by now.

"Oh my mother, Lou told us what you guys are up to and we are _so_ helping!"

Luke jumped slightly as he was in the middle of building an Ikea shelf. Turning some, he came face to face with Silena Beauregard, the head of Aphrodite's kids, and her younger and relatively pissed looking sister Drew Tanaka. Together, their group got to work. Painting the ceiling a light sky-blue with white clouds, the walls to look like a forest – because Luke knew how much Jay had enjoyed their camping trips, how much he loved the forest. They had put up shelves for toys that they had stolen for the six-years old, as well as pictures. Luke had once stolen a camera and had taken many pictures of the four of them during their travelings. A blue beanbag came into one corner and the stupid bunk-beds got thrown out, replaced by two larger single-beds. In case Thalia would return.

In the end, Connor and Travis were passed out on one of the beds, Lou and Alabaster were just using their magic for the last touches (so the clouds on the ceiling would actually move and the occasional owl or deer would pass through the forest), Ethan and Chris passed out on the other bed and Drew and Silena were putting the pretty (but girly) curtains up. Luke was pleased as he took a look around. Time to fetch Jason. Turning around, he left the cabin to go into the forest, where he soon found Grover, Jason and Annabeth playing hide and seek, the blonde boy from Annabeth's cabin with them. Malcolm. By the looks of it, it was Jason's turn to seek.

"Hey, kiddo", whispered Luke as he placed his hands over Jason's eyes.

"Lukey!", exclaimed Jason and whirled around, electric-blue eyes wide and curious.

"Come on, I got a surprise for you, Jay", grinned Luke.

"Surprise?", asked Jason eagerly, wrapping his arms around Luke's neck, demanding to be carried.

The six-years old was a force too strong for Luke, because one look into those electric-blue eyes and Luke was a goner. He couldn't deny Jay anything, so he lifted the small boy up into his arms and carried him back to Cabin One. Jason clung tighter to Luke the closer they got to the cabin. He hated that place. It was gold and impersonal and lonely and it sucked. No one wanted to get in because it belonged to Zeus, the king of all gods and no one wanted to accidentally offend Zeus, which was stupid because Zeus had been a crappy dad to Jason so far, so why did they care if they offended the god? He wished he could live with Annabeth and Luke there.

"Now come on, Jay, don't choke me", chuckled Luke amused, ruffling the blonde mess of hair.

"Sorry, Luke", mumbled Jason, rubbing his nose against Luke's collarbone.

Jason gasped wide-eyed as they entered the cabin. There were Luke's friends inside and much awesome stuff. Really awesome stuff. Like a bed that wasn't some tiny bunk and a fluffy fur on the floor and toys! Real toys! He hadn't had toys since him and Thalia had decided to run away from home, because they couldn't possibly carry the useless additional weight.

"Happy birthday, Jason!", chorused the older demigods, grinning at him.

Silena walked over to them and kissed his cheek, leaving a pink imprint of her lipstick on his cheeks. He giggled slightly. She was very pretty and very kind, he liked her a lot, because she was so motherly. Or how he pictured a proper mom to be, at least.

"Thank you!", chimed Jason with the most brilliant smile, making Silena coo over him.

"You are such a little sweetheart", gasped Silena, pinching his cheeks. "You will break many, many hearts once you're older, little darling. Most of them probably my sisters."

"I don't wanna break hearts", frowned Jason confused.

"Yeah, don't worry, I won't let those Aphrodite girls near you", promised Luke amused.

"You can't keep him to yourself forever, Lucas", warned Silena with one cocked eyebrow.

"But I can try", replied Luke nonchalantly.

/break\

Normal people, or so had Jason heard, had a mom and a dad to love them. Jason kind of pitied them, because they didn't have a Thalia, or an Annabeth, or even a Luke. Jason would never even want to picture a life without his little family. Thalia had always been his family, she was his blood, she was a part of him, but Luke. Luke was so much more. Luke was his everything. His hero and protector and provider and the one to cuddle him when he had a nightmare (Thalia wasn't good with cuddles). So arriving at camp was hard for Jason. Not just because of the loss of his big sister, but also because he kind of felt as though he had also lost Annabeth and Luke.

Annabeth spend all her time with her new cabin now because they were as clever as she was – which Jason found rather impossible to believe though. She had a new little brother now, one that was even related to her. And Jason was _jealous_ of Malcolm. But then he befriended the son of Athena and he was actually fun to play with and maybe-perhaps Jason could consider sharing Annabeth with him, because he was awesome enough to deserve a big sister like Annabeth too.

But he would under no circumstances share his Luke with anyone! And how dare that other cabin full of Luke's siblings and others just made him their head and loaded him with responsibilities! Jason had preferred it when Luke's only responsibilities had been Jason and Annabeth. Now there were all those other kids, demanding Luke's attention.

Annabeth was there to pick up on his mood and together with Malcolm, she introduced Jason to a bunch of awesome demigods. And maybe, when Jason was out, playing with their new friends, maybe then it would be okay for Luke to pay attention to others. But only then!

/break\

It was two years after their arrival at camp that Annabeth, for the first time, didn't feel like she belonged there. She got along great with her cabin mates, others liked her too, she had Jason and Luke. But in the year 2003, Luke left camp for a quest. He had begged his father for a quest for years now, had wanted to prove that Hermes children could as well be heroes as the children of Ares – a more-or-less friendly rivalry he had going on with Clarisse la Rue from Cabin Five.

So a quest was granted, for them to compete. Clarisse and Luke were send to bring a dangerous demigod to them, they had to take different routs and who would reach Grover first and bring the girl to safety would win. Grover seemed to have found a girl with extreme power. And that exactly was why Annabeth didn't feel like she belonged. Because Luke was gone and that scared her. She had already lost Thalia, what if something was to happen to Luke?

"Hello", hummed a soft voice as someone poked her.

She was sitting under Thalia's tree, her legs pulled up against her chest. Looking up, she faced Jason and their closest friends – Malcolm Cage from her cabin and Will Solace from Apollo's cabin. Will was Malcolm's best friend and Malcolm was only a little younger than Annabeth and had been so glad to finally have someone around his own age in the cabin that he right away had befriended Annabeth. The other campers liked to joke about the five blondes, how Jason, Annabeth, Will and Malcolm were like little ducklings, following Luke around.

"Do you wanna play, Annabeth?", asked Jason, folding his legs beneath his body.

"Yeah! We could ask Chris and Jake and Katie if they wanna play too!", nodded Will eagerly.

"Oh yes!", nodded Malcolm and jumped up. "You sit here and wait!"

Jason grinned amused as the two other blonde boys dashed off to get their other friends. He then got more comfortable next to Annabeth, laying one arm around her shoulders. Storm-gray eyes turned to stare up at Jason, pink lips pushed forward in a pout.

"I don't like that Luke left us alone", whispered the daughter of Athena.

"I don't like it either", sighed Jason and shook his head. "But it's Luke! He'll be fine!"

"You're right", nodded Annabeth with a small smile as she saw Malcolm, Will, Chris, Jake and Katie return to them. "Oh, come! We can play hide and seek! Yes?"

"Not it!", exclaimed Katie hastily as they reached them.

"But that's unfair! When you're not it, you get to hide and you always grow the plants to hide you!", complained Chris with a glare, arms crossed over his chest. "Is not fair!"

"But it's also not fair to always make her it!", protested Malcolm.

"Thank you, Mal!", grinned Katie brightly.

"I'll be it, now stop discussing!", huffed Jake and waved his arms around. "Go and hide!"

Jason giggled and grabbed Annabeth's hand, pulling her away toward the lake to hide.

/break\

Luke frowned as he sat in the car with Clarisse and the New Girl. Taking a quest with the local hero had not exactly been his first choice, but he had to prove himself and while Hermes Cabin loved him, Ares Cabin sort of hated him. He had to prove himself to Clarisse la Rue. And the quest to retrieve a young demigoddess seemed to be quite the good choice. They had turned it into a tournament, to see who was the better hero. They had arrived at about the same time and together just barely managed to knock the freaking manticore out that had tried to eat the adorable little Italian girl. Bianca di Angelo. She was very shy and also quite pretty, but for the love of it, Luke couldn't figure out who her godly parent was and neither could she.

"So, we got a truce, Castellan?", grunted the daughter of Ares with a glare.

"I suppose it'll be good for camp to have one female and one male great hero?", suggested Luke.

He knew he was gambling here, because Clarisse had been at camp first and she was not just a daughter of Ares but the head of her cabin. He was just one of too many half-bloods in the Hermes Cabin, just a thief. Or so some of the other campers liked to point out. But he wanted to be _more_. He didn't want to be just another child of Hermes. He wanted to be his own person. He wanted to be a hero. Someone Annabeth and Jason could be proud of. Someone Thalia would be proud of.

"I'll live with you, Castellan", snarled Clarisse after a long pause. "But only if you keep the brats away. They're always after a hero, but they're annoying."

/break\

Bianca di Angelo was the daughter of Hades. Hades had a daughter. Needless to say, Jason's dad wasn't thrilled, but seeing as he had broken the oath _twice_ , there was not much room to argue, especially since Poseidon was siding with Hades on this one, out of various reasons. One was that Zeus had broken the oath two times already, another was that technically speaking, the girl had been conceived before the oath had been taken and a third one, one the demigods and other gods would only learn about two years later, was named Perseus Jackson. So even though the sky was dark and rumbling, Zeus had been forbidden from harming the girl.

But since there was no Hades Cabin, Bianca – a daughter of one of the Big Three, for Olympus' sake – had to stay in the Hermes Cabin, with all the unclaimed children and the children of the minor gods. Luke pitied her, especially considering that Jason had a whole cabin all to himself, because of what? His dad was the king of Olympus and Bianca's dad was 'only' the ruler of the underworld? On the long run, the underworld seemed kind of more important to Luke than Olympus. After all, this wasn't Christian thesis with heaven being in the clouds and all. No, heaven was in the underworld, just like hell, like the place where _everyone_ ended up after dead. Heck, the place where the most dangerous beings were imprisoned. Basically, important stuff was going on down there. And yet its _king_ wasn't even worth having an own cabin?

"How is she doing?", whispered Luke softly as he watched the girl. "Do you know anything?"

Ethan was sitting next to him on the bed, his arms crossed over his chest. "She's twelve. Lonely."

"And Italian. And I mean proper Italian, not just her mommy came to the US and all. Born in Venice. Together with her brother. But it seems her brother is dead, never made it to the Lotus Hotel where Hades hid them to protect them from Zeus and from World War II", added Alabaster as he crawled onto the bed and squeezed in between Ethan and Luke. "Caring, for a god."

"If any god knows what it's like to be an outcast, it's Hades", muttered Luke. "How do you know so much about the girl though? She's only been here for a couple of days."

"We're friends", shrugged Alabaster defensively. "Don't look at me like that. I can make friends."

"Should I be jealous that you rather spend time with someone else?", huffed Ethan.

"Well, _you_ spend all your time with Luke. So I need a new best friend", declared Alabaster.

Luke cocked one eyebrow. Adorable idiots, they didn't even realize how much they were in love with each other. Well, it wasn't his place to play match-maker, let Silena do that.

/break\

The seasons came and ended, peacefully.

Bianca, fourteen years old by now, had adjusted quite well to camp. She was nearly inseparable from Alabaster, but she also adored Silena. And she had taken a special liking to Jason. At first Luke had been concerned about this, had thought that she was developing a crush on his little Jay. So he had confronted her – under the pretense of warning her that two children of the Big Three never really mingle. And Bianca had confessed, under tears, that Jason's wide, innocent eyes and his childish nature remembered her so much of her dead brother, of Nico. So Luke let it slide and he took her in, accepted her into their little, dysfunctional family. He became her big brother and he allowed her to become Annabeth's and Jason's big sister.

She had become a big part in their little family, a new and additional member.

Jason loved it and hated it all the same. It was awesome having Bianca and her cool powers around, but having the dark-haired, protective older-sister type close by made him only mourn the loss of Thalia more. Then again, he was only ten. Just a kid. Oh, how much he hated that phrase. He felt as though Luke didn't take him serious. No one ever really did. He was just that adorable, blonde mascot that trailed after Luke like a lost puppy and oh, wasn't he a cutie? Urgh.

Luke had actually learned to love camp. All the aspects that had made him stay at first, all the upsides for his two blondes, had only been the foundation. All the friends he had made in Hermes Cabin were the icing on the cake. Ethan and Alabaster and Bianca and Clarisse and Silena and Charles and Travis and Connor. They had fun together and he liked to play pranks with Ethan, Alabaster, Travis and Connor. And together with Clarisse, who had already been a great hero when Luke and his blondes had joined camp, he had risen to become camp leader.

Annabeth however saw things a little different. She had earned herself quite the name around camp. She was clever, even for a child of Athena. Witty. A good fighter and also quite the leader. So even though she was only twelve years old, she already took quite the responsibility on. She was the head of Athena Cabin and she took the lead of as many activities as she could.

She had also a little bit become the leader of their little group of friends. They had Katie Gardner, Nyssa Black, Lou Ellen, Malcolm Cage, Will Solace, Jake Mason and Chris Rodriguez and together, they always won Capture the Flag, they would rule every training session. And sometimes they would even secretly sneak out into the woods – but most of the times one of the nymphs would rattle them out to camp and they'd get themselves into trouble with their cabin heads. And even though Jason and Annabeth didn't have cabin heads, they had _Luke_. And neither of the blondes really wanted to disappoint Luke. Whenever Luke would get angry at them for doing something forbidden, Jason would spend the night with his head in Annabeth's lap, crying. Luke never hurt them, gods forbid, but just the knowledge that he had disappointed Luke made the little boy cry. But now that he was ten, he had promised himself not to cry anymore. He was a big boy now.

And that was the situation into which Leo and Percy Jackson got thrown into.

/break\

When two new campers arrived, unconscious after a Minotaur attack, Jason too wanted to take more responsibility and help. Especially so because of Annabeth. Annabeth, always eager to take on more responsibility, had started to nurse the unconscious boys back to health while Grover nervously paced outside the Big House. Jason, bored and unsure what else to do, sat with Annabeth, taking care of the one with the curls and elvish ears while Annabeth took to the pale one. It wasn't all that often that new campers arrived here alive, especially not in pairs. And with Luke gone on some 'important' quest business with Bianca and Clarisse, Jason didn't have anything else to do but sit there and take care of sleepy boys. They were cute.

But even cute, it became boring to watch them after a little while, at least until they finally woke up. Jason's woke before Annabeth's, almond-eyes staring up at Jason confused, frown on his face.

"Percy...", croaked the boy out, coughing due to his dry throat.

"Here, drink", offered Jason, holding a glass of water out for him. "Percy? Is that your name?"

The young Latino gulped it down eagerly. "No. My brother. His name is Percy. Is he alright?"

Jason and Annabeth exchanged a confused look, both settling on the other boy. Almond-eyes followed them and a relieved sigh left the Latino before he stood, on wobbly legs. Jason wanted to protest, to pull him back down onto his own bed, but the boy crawled over into this Percy's.

"Your brother?", asked Annabeth skeptical. "You don't share that many features."

The one that had woken up was a Latino, with dark eyes and dark curls, but the one sleeping, he was pale, more of a European appearance really. The only thing they had in common was that they both were skinny and cute. Jason scooted over to take a closer look.

"Foster brothers", mumbled the boy. "My name is Leo Jackson. That's my brother Percy. We live with his mom and his... stepfather. We don't like his stepfather. Where are we? Where's mom?"

"How about we wait with the answers until your... brother is awake too?", suggested Annabeth.

Jason frowned slightly. So the sleeping one, Percy, his godly parent must be male then.

/break\

The 'sleeping one' turned into 'the one with the awesome eyes' once he opened those. Jason had never seen such green, green eyes. He decided he would keep the cute green-eyed one to himself. Or maybe both, they both had that sad look in their eyes and a lot of bruises – that did not come from the Minotaur attack. Judging by the way Leo had said that they didn't like the stepfather, it wasn't a wild guess to assume that he was the cause of the bruises. Jason needed to stop hanging out with Annabeth and Malcolm, he already started to sound like a brains boy.

Bianca, Clarisse and Luke had returned from their little quest and were currently in the Big House with Mister D and Chiron, discussing what the arrival of two demigods may mean. Leo had been taken away from Jason and Annabeth by Charles Beckendorf after he had caught fire (Nyssa and Jake had a field day with their newest baby brother and they couldn't wait to show him around and test the boy's fire). Percy looked afraid and sad as Jason and Annabeth showed him around. Well, his mother had died at the horns of the Minotaur right before he had killed it and now strangers stole his brother. After their tour, Jason brought Percy to the Hermes Cabin.

"But... this is so crowded?", whispered Percy confused, clinging to Jason.

"Well, Hermes is the god of travelers. He takes those in who need to rest on their journey", replied Annabeth and shrugged, waving the Stolls over. "Until Luke returns, take care of this one."

"Aw, this one is cute", grinned Travis, cocking his head.

"Really adorable", agreed Connor, making some room on the floor for the newbie.

Percy frowned, upset and worried, clinging to the Minotaur horn, the only possession he had. Leo had the other horn, had taken it with him to the Hephaestus Cabin. Jason looked at the boy critically for another moment. Percy just sat there, cowered into a corner. Even though the boy was approximately a year older than Jason, he looked so much smaller and more frail. Then again, Jason had been training at Camp Half-Blood for four years now, so he had more muscles. He also got regular meals and judging by Leo's and Percy's appearance, they didn't.

"You should rest", suggested Jason softly before he left.

/break\

Luke was exhausted when he entered the Hermes Cabin that night, the night the two new campers had arrived. The meeting had been long and boring and mostly just the disappointed stares from Chiron and the mocking ones from Mister D. The Master Bolt had been stolen and so had the Helmet of Darkness. Two of the Big Three had been robbed off their symbols of powers. Everything was thrown off-balance and the arrival of the two new demigods wasn't exactly reassuring, so Bianca, Luke and Clarisse had been send to investigate. He was dripping by the time he was inside his cabin, because thanks to Zeus' bad mood, the weather was acting up.

"Luke! Look what Jason and Annabeth brought us", snarled Alabaster in fake delight.

The brunette was laying in his and Ethan's bed. After the two had – at last – figured it out, they had started to share a bed. Because of the 'limited space'. Well, the authorities didn't object. After all, it was only a problem when a boy and a girl were alone. Sure, in a Greek camp, with their godly parents, no one even contemplated the option of homosexuality. Luke rolled his eyes at Alabaster before turning to the something that his two blondes had brought. The something was small and scared and cute. Large, sad sea-green eyes stared up at him curiously, the boy was clutching a horn of the Minotaur. One of the two newbies. Now where was the other one?

"Hello there, little one", smiled Luke and knelt down in front of the cute newbie. "I'm Luke Castellan. I'm a son of Hermes and the head of this cabin, which means I'm responsible for you. Which means I'll look out for you. Do you want to tell me your name? And where is your friend?"

"Leo's not just my friend, he's my brother!", protested the boy, sitting up some. "I'm Percy and Leo is my brother, but he's not here because he's a son of Heph... uhm..."

"Hephaestus?", supplied Luke amused, ruffling the kid's hair. "And you? If you're his brother?"

"Foster brother", whispered Percy, barely audible. "But we don't talk about that. He's my brother. I don't... I don't know who my godly father may be. I always... thought he was dead..."

"It's alright, Percy", soothed Luke, the hand still resting on Percy's head. "We've all been there, believe me. And we all managed to move on. Tomorrow, me and my minions will help you to find out who your godly parent is. And don't worry, you can see your brother any time you want, mh?"

"Okay", nodded Percy slowly, wiggling his nose. "Wait. You have minions?"

"My two little blondes, it seems you already met them since they took care of you", nodded Luke. "Now try catching some sleep, Percy. Tomorrow will be exhausting."

/break\

Annabeth knew the day would be annoying the moment she woke up. Because Malcolm kept poking her cheek. He did like to annoy her, especially in the mornings. She glared at him and he grinned cheekily, he stuck his tongue out at her and changed into a fresh camp shirt.

"What? Do you want to be the last one up to poke questions at the new kids?", asked Malcolm.

Annabeth huffed and got up. She couldn't admit it out loud, but she wanted to know more about the new kids too. Especially the unclaimed one. Unclaimed was interesting. Also, jealousy. Unclaimed meant he got to stay in one cabin with Bianca and Luke, but they here _her_ family.

"We meet up with Will and Katie at the Hephaestus Cabin. I want to see the new tinkerer, see how bright his mind really is", grinned Malcolm giddily. "Lou and Chris won't come though. Lou wants to follow Alabaster around and Chris wants to follow Luke around. You know, 'helping' the unclaimed one. Test him for powers and stuff. Sounds exhausting. I want the tinkerer."

Annabeth nodded a few times at appropriate places while she followed her half-brother through camp. Will and Katie were already standing in front of the cabin, obviously waiting for them before knocking. Annabeth frowned. Tinkerers were all the same. What was so special about the Latino?

"This one doesn't interest me. I'll be with Luke and the others", declared Annabeth.

She waved her friends goodbye and dashed off toward Zeus' cabin to wake Jason. The son of Zeus always slept too long. A broad grin spread over her face as she saw the still sleeping blonde. Jason had a teddy clutched to his midsection, legs and arms wound around it. He was a little monkey when it came to cuddling and it was sort of adorable to watch.

"Jay! Ja~ay, wake up!", screamed Annabeth right into his ear.

Jason yelped and sat up hastily, hair messy, eyes wide. He turned to glare at his 'sister', who smirked mischievously at him and threw a pair of jeans and a camp shirt at the son of Zeus.

"What was that for? Am I late for breakfast again?", asked Jason sleepily.

"I want to see what the new kid can do. You'll come with me", declared Annabeth.

"Okay", agreed Jason obediently. "He's kind of... cute and lost. What about his brother?"

"No need to test that one", huffed Annabeth and rolled her eyes at him. "Now _move_."

Huffing at the bossy blonde, Jason hastily got changed to follow her like a puppy. When they reached the arena, the place was cleared out, aside from Luke, Ethan, Alabaster and Bianca. And, of course, the new kid. Who looked nervous and under pressure. Well, he was. They were trying to find out who his godly parent was, after all. And by now he probably already had caught on with certain things – like how sons of Demeter or Aphrodite weren't entirely taken serious, or how most Ares kids were bullies. Finding out who his godly parent was, let's face it, meant to put a label on him. Branding him for life. Annabeth looked around slowly and decided that they were probably supposed to sit down. Alabaster and Bianca were sitting in the ranks, talking and watching as Ethan and Luke showed Percy how to use what weapon – to see if he was specially cunning with anything, maybe archery like Apollo or generally weapons as an Ares kid. Annabeth tugged on Jason's hand, to come along. The two blondes sat down a row below Alabaster and Bianca.

"So, how is it coming?", asked Annabeth in a soft voice, looking up to the daughter of Hades.

"Not good. He's basically a disaster", snorted Alabaster, earning himself an elbow to the ribs.

"What Al means", growled Bianca, glaring warningly at her best friend. "Is that he's not particularly good with anything. And he's frightened, obviously. His mother just died and he _is_ only twelve."

Jason bit his lips, playing with the little scar he had there. It had happened the first time Luke and Thalia had given him and Annabeth real swords. To sum it up, Annabeth was the better fighter. With his hands in his pockets did he just sit there and watch for hours, just like the others did. They nearly missed lunch even. But seeing as the kid was skinny – and now also frustrated because so far, he had shown no signs of being anyone's kid. Hermes, Ares and Apollo. All off the list.

"Let's take a break", declared Luke with a frown. "Jay, you're responsible for him."

"What? Me? Why?", yelped the son of Zeus, jumping up.

"Because Annie keeps looking at him like he's a guinea pig and he needs someone to care for him, not to dissect him. Also, Annabeth, stop looking at him like that", replied Luke.

Annabeth frowned upset, at least until Alabaster and Bianca accompanied her out of the arena to distract her. Ethan and Luke headed over to the showers, leaving Percy and Jason alone.

"Come on, let's get some food into you", offered Jason with a smile. "You'll see your brother."

The older boy looked hopeful at that and obediently followed. "What will happen next?"

"Well, there are still other gods left", started Jason slowly. "Dionysus is probably out too already since he wouldn't have treated you the way he did if you were his son. But there are still the minor gods left. And those are... uhm, well, _a lot_ , to say the least. So, more testing, I guess."

"Okay", nodded Percy, half hiding behind Jason as they entered the dining hall.

Jason preened a little at that. With the others, he was always the youngest, the 'little one' they all tried to look after. Annabeth, Luke, Thalia. Now also Bianca. But this boy, he must have been through a lot, it was plain to see. And Jason could protect him. Would protect him.

"Leo!", exclaimed Percy relieved and ran over to the Hephaestus table.

The Latino sat between Jake and Nyssa, both talking about a mile a minute. They were really excited about their new baby brother. And Leo, even though he looked mildly uncomfortable because of all the attention he was receiving, looked like he enjoyed their company too. But as soon as he heard the shout, his full attention was on Percy and his almond-eyes sparkled with happiness.

"Percy! I was so worried about you! I couldn't sleep at all! I missed you so much!", stated Leo.

They hugged, tightly. As though they never wanted to let go of each other. They obviously meant a lot to each other. They reminded Jason of himself and Annabeth. Not related by blood, but inseparable and siblings nonetheless. He smiled strained as he poked Percy.

"You can't sit together. You have to eat with your own cabin", said Jason, then being faced by two sets of upset puppy-eyes. "Oh no. Don't do that. Look, you at least each get a table full of others. I on the other hand have to eat all on my own. That's no fun at all, believe me." They seemed to contemplate that for a moment, still holding onto each other. "We can meet after lunch. I could show you around – not like Annie did yesterday, a proper tour of all the fun places. Just the three of us. I could explain some stuff to you, if you want to."

They were probably not very comfortable talking to their respective cabin heads just yet. Maybe just the three of them would make the two open up some. Get Jason some answers. Percy and Leo nodded reluctantly before returning to their respective tables. Jason sat alone, like he always did, glaring a little enviously at Percy. After all, Percy was right now sitting between Bianca and Luke, getting coddled by Bianca. Percy was closer in age to Nico than Jason, he also had dark hair, so he woke her sisterly instincts. She had never gotten over the loss of her baby brother and she never would. Jason knew that, because he would never get over the loss of his big sister.

/break\

The day was exhausting, but also useless. At the end of it, Luke still had no idea who Percy's godly parent may be. But when he laid in his bed and turned to look at Percy, he noted that the boy was more relaxed. He had spend the evening with Annabeth, Jason and that brother of his. Well, it seemed Luke's blondes had helped them settling. Good.

"Hey, little one", whispered Luke as he noticed how the boy tossed and turned. "Can't sleep?"

"No", mumbled Percy and shook his head. "I normally share a bed with Leo. We don't have much space at home, but that's fine. Leo is really warm, like ten blankets. It's pretty awesome."

Luke winced slightly as he watched how Lou kicked Percy into the ribs in her sleep. The floor really wasn't ideal to sleep on and the boy had been through enough. Lifting his blanket some, Luke motioned for the younger one to climb up to him. Percy looked skeptical.

"I won't bite", promised Luke amused. "Come on, it's more comfortable, mh?"

Lou kicked him again. Percy stood and climbed up into Luke's bed, laying on the very farthest away from the blonde. At least until he was asleep, because as soon as sleep claimed the kid, Percy turned into a cuddle monster and clung to Luke. The son of Hermes smiled amused and laid his arms around the younger boy. Tomorrow, they'd find out whose child the little one was.

/break\

They didn't find out whose child Percy was, but that was okay. Him and Leo got along fine with Annabeth and Jason and Luke grew quite fond of his new teddy bear too. For the next few days – far too little time – Luke had Percy to cuddle with and to train. Percy would never be able to replace Annabeth and Jason, but Luke had already taught his two blondes everything he knew. And Bianca wasn't all that keen on having a mentor-type older brother. But Percy practically absorbed every word that left Luke's lips. It felt like meeting Jason for the first time all over again. Everything he said was still new to the boy and it seemed to be worth gold. And what with Leo being just as obsessed with Beckendorf, the Latino didn't have that much time for Percy, which left Percy kind of stuck with Luke. Not that either of them really minded. At first, Luke was afraid that Annabeth and Jason may be jealous of the new kid, but it seemed that Annabeth didn't particularly care – being twelve, she tried to be a grown-up these days and grown-ups, apparently, didn't get jealous over such matters. She was also trying to be responsible and all so taking care of Percy and Leo seemed an appropriate thing to do to her. And Jason? Well, the blonde seemed to like Percy just as much.

/break\

Sadly enough, they eventually found out whose son Percy really was. Poseidon. As in, the earthshaker and rainbringer. As in, Percy had to move out of the Hermes Cabin again. It was strange, Luke found himself missing the cuddly little boy. He frowned slightly, the first night after Percy had moved to the Poseidon Cabin, glaring up at the ceiling, with his arms behind his head.

"Are you missing your little Sea Prince lover?", questioned Alabaster from the bed next to him.

"He's not my lover. He's twelve, Al", grunted Luke and rolled his eyes.

"And a son of Poseidon. Weird timing, having a son of Poseidon arrive here just as Hades and Zeus seem to be missing their symbols of power", noted Ethan lowly, concerned.

"Percy's far too innocent to have anything to do with this", snorted Luke with a glare.

"Your innocent, little prince", cooed Alabaster with a grin. "Watch out before Jason gets jealous though. I wouldn't want to anger a son of Zeus. Mh... I see a pattern there. Are you collecting sons of the Big Three, Lucas? Very naughty of you."

Rolling his eyes again, Luke gave him the finger and turned around to sleep.

/break\

It turned out that Ethan was right. Percy's timing had been bad. Hades was enraged, he threatened Percy, demanding his helmet back from the 'little thief'. He promised Percy his mother back in return for the helmet. Mister D and Chiron discussed it and the result of that was nothing Luke liked. To show the Big Three that this was no reason for war, that camp trusted the son of Poseidon, they send _Percy_ onto the quest to retrieve the lost Master Bolt and the Helmet of Darkness. For the sake of making Zeus and Hades feel better, they decided for Jason and Bianca to accompany him. Which made Luke feel even worse. His little Jay was supposed to go on a dangerous quest? He had never been on a quest before! And he was only eleven! But Bianca was good and she was fourteen. He just hoped that would be enough to keep Percy and Jason safe.

All that was left for Luke to do was watch over Annabeth and Leo. He had promised it to Percy, to watch over Leo while Percy would be gone. Babysitting! How had he gone from being the hero to being the babysitter? It was frustrating, but those large, sea-green eyes were hard to resist.

"Will my brother be fine?", asked Leo softly, staring up at Luke with large, almond-eyes.

So maybe they were brothers after all. Cocking one eyebrow, Luke stared down at the other boy.

"Of course he will. Jason promised me to protect Percy", stated Luke, ruffling Leo's curls.

"Stop distracting him, Luke!", chided Annabeth loudly. "He's supposed to learn how to control his fire! If you'd mind not taking his mind off the task at hand, that would be lovely. I don't want the fire-imp to burn down our home, Luke. Hush, go and play with Ethan and Alabaster."

Bossy. She reminded him a little of Thalia, mused Luke with a small smile and left.

/break\

Of course his boys had been victorious. And Sally Jackson was returned to them. Luke was relieved, of course, that Percy and Leo had their mother back. But it still miffed him a little that they left camp again and that he would only get to see Percy again the next summer.

Still he was very proud of Jason and Bianca for their successful quest.

"I'm a hero now, just like you", had Jason declared with the largest grin possible.

The boy would be Luke's death. He just grew up to become cuter with every year. But then again, so did Percy, apparently. Because when summer rolled around, Percy and Leo returned to them. They looked better, not so skinny and pale anymore as though they were free to play wherever they wanted and would finally get to be _happy_. They had also gained a third brother, Tyson. A cyclops.

Things happened far too fast that year, at least for Luke. Thalia's tree had been poisoned. Thalia had been poisoned. What kind of a dirty and sick person would poison Thalia, would sabotage their camp borders and endanger them all?! Luke was enraged, he was so furious, he could only see red.

Perhaps it was for the best that Clarisse took the quest to go and find the Golden Fleece. Luke's mind was all over the place at the moment. It was safer if he'd stay away. He did not appreciate the other two parts of the quest-trio. Percy was an obvious choice, since they'd have to travel to the sea of monsters and as the son of Poseidon, he was a naval navigation system. And Tyson, his 'new brother'. They saw it as a sign that Poseidon had claimed a cyclops. Clarisse was not very pleased.

Percy and Annabeth had become close friends, best friends even. Just like Leo and Jason. It was as though the two unorthodox sets of siblings were bound to get along. It just left him with three sulking, little kids. They sat under the tree, all with equal pouts.

"Would you now finally stop it with the pouty faces?!", exclaimed Luke annoyed, nudging them.

They winced and rubbed the tops of their heads. Luke smirked at them and leaned against the bark of the tree. Annabeth glared at him accusingly, Leo looked sad and Jason was angry.

"B—But it's the quest to save _my_ sister! I should be part of it!", complained Jason annoyed.

"You're a son of Zeus. It's not good when you cross into the territory of one of the other Big Three. You and boats, not a good mix", sighed Luke and shook his head. "Look, they'll be fine. Now go and play, take your minds off this. You're _kids_ , have some _fun_. This is a summer camp, after all."

The kids exchanged a look before running off. The boys were only twelve, after all. Luke remained with the tree, caressing the bark tenderly. If Thalia was in pain now? He worried.

"Luke... C—Can we... talk...?", whispered a soft and concerned voice.

"Sure. What's wrong, Bianca?", asked Luke worried and turned to look at the daughter of Hades.

"I... I'm worried", admitted Bianca, staring at the ground. "With this big prophecy... They'll try to kill us, right? The children of the Big Three. A—And we're never really safe anyway, are we? Nico died. Thalia is a tree and... now she's... dying too... I don't want to be the child of the prophecy, Luke. I don't know if I can handle all that responsibility. I don't... feel like I belong here anymore. I never really felt like I belong. My dad is one of the Big Three – I may start a war that may cause Olympus to fall! But still, I sleep on the floor in your cabin, while Jason and Percy each have their very own cabins. I don't... I don't feel _respected_ here at this camp. I..."

"I understand, Bianca", nodded Luke and frowned.

He had feared something like that. Bianca was fifteen. The prophecy was dangling over her head like a Damocles sword. In fact, he had done some research, to find a way to spare her. And he had found something. Something he didn't like all that much, but it may be the best for her.

"Listen to me, Bianca", whispered Luke and sat down next to her. "There is this club, an all girls club. The Hunters of Artemis. If you pledge your loyalty to Lady Artemis, you will become immortal. You'll never age and you'll never reach sixteen. You won't be the child of the prophecy. And... with the Hunters, you'd just be another girl. They don't care about the godly heritage. No one would look at you oddly for being a daughter of Hades. The only downside is that you'd also have to remain an eternal virgin. But judging by the way you fought off every guy so far, well..."

"Lady Artemis? The Hunt?", repeated Bianca thoughtful.

"Look, I asked Chiron to contact her so she'd come down and speak to you. You can ask her everything you want and then decide. I'll miss you. And so will Alabaster and Ethan. And Jason and Annabeth", stated Luke, hugging her briefly. "But... I think that maybe, it would be the safest."

/break\

Everything was different and fuzzy when she woke up. Her head was buzzing when she woke up from what felt like a very long and very deep sleep. The first thought on her mind was Jason.

"Jason! Jason, where are you?! Annabeth? Luke!", called Thalia out as she sat up.

"We're here, sh, it's alright", whispered Luke as he came into her view.

And that was when she knew that something wasn't right. He was old. Why was he old? And Jason and Annabeth, they were old too. They brought her to the Apollo Cabin to rest and Luke updated her on what had happened while she had been... a tree. Interesting. And weird.

"A—And Jason? He's fine?", asked Thalia concerned.

"He was lonely, all alone in the Zeus Cabin", stated Luke with a shrug, supporting Thalia as he led her to the Zeus Cabin. "We're sorted by godly parent and you and Jason are the only children of Zeus. Which gives you plenty of space. We others aren't as lucky."

Thalia grinned amused when she entered the cabin. It looked like right out of Jason's head. Shelves full with toys, beautifully painted walls. At least there was a bunk-bed so she'd have a place to sleep. She groaned a little when Luke helped her into the bed.

"Hey there, I'm... glad you're back", whispered Luke, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I'm glad you kept Annabeth and Jason safe", yawned Thalia with a grin. "I missed you guys."

/break\

It was hard adjusting. To her family being older now, to how they all had moved on after her supposedly dead six years ago. Six years. Six damn years. She hated how much she had missed, but she was also damn proud of the kind of person that Jason, Annabeth and Luke had grown to become. Luke was a hero and a leader, the leader of this strange little camp. Annabeth too had taken to become a leader of sorts. And then there was Jason, her little baby brother. Who was crushing on Luke, big times. She was pretty grateful that Luke was ignoring it for now. After all, Luke was twenty-one and Jason was only barely thirteen. But damn, that boy had fallen hard. When they were laying in their cabin, waiting for sleep to claim them, they would talk. Well, mostly Jason would talk. After all, much had happened in the past six years. And nearly every second sentence started with 'And Luke had...' or 'And Luke did...' or 'And did I tell you that Luke...'. It was pretty darn obvious that Jason had feelings for Luke, more than just the 'he's my mentor-brother-protector'.

"And Luke decided to take Bianca in and train her too, even though most of camp just avoided her because she's the daughter of Hades, but it's nothing wrong with being a daughter of Hades. She's pretty awesome and has all those creepy powers", chatted Jason animatedly.

Bianca. She had heard that name a lot already. But it seemed she had missed that daughter of Hades, the way Annabeth had explained it, Bianca had joined the Hunt only days before Thalia had been brought back. What seemed far more interesting was the son of Poseidon. Because if Jason's sentences didn't start with Luke, they'd be centered around Percy and Leo Jackson. A fire-controller and a water-controller who grew up as brothers. Thalia would really like to hear their story.

/break\

It was less than a year after her revival that another quest was thrown upon them – and it made Thalia realize that there was a war coming closer indeed. And she didn't like it. She hated it even more when this Drew-chick disappeared through the newly discovered labyrinth. Daedalus' labyrinth, which was being used by Kronos' army to infiltrate camp.

Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason and Grover went inside, leaving Thalia and Luke to fuss and curse. Those cheeky brats just slipped away from them. Naturally, they wanted to follow the five of them, but they couldn't possibly leave camp unprotected from possible rebel-attacks. Clarisse, Thalia and Luke were stuck patrolling the entrance, watching over camp. They hated it, obviously.

But it gave Thalia enough time to question what the fuck was wrong with this Drew-chick.

"She got problems. Many problems", sighed Silena as she brought them tea and cookies.

The head of the Aphrodite Cabin was a little too pretty and too much like a Barbie for Thalia's taste, but she was Clarisse's best friend and seemingly also friends with Luke, so Thalia put up with Barbie princess. Also, Barbie princess brought cookies, so there was that.

"What does that even mean?", snorted Thalia and cocked one eyebrow.

"She's... power-hungry", replied Luke nonchalantly. "She had always been kissing Silena's ass because Silena is her cabin head. She also threw herself at Jason ever since the big theft quest."

"She's also angry because no one takes the Aphrodite kids serious", shrugged Clarisse with a frown.

"She thinks everyone will take her more serious and bow to her will once she rules the world", snorted Luke and shook his head. "Fucking ridiculous if you ask me. Because when the titans rule, things will be better than with the gods? If anything, things will be worse because now, we're at least the kids of the rulers. Then, we'll be the kids of the ones that had overthrown and imprisoned the rulers. Really messed up thinking, but well, I guess Drew never had what we have. Each other and Annabeth and Jason. Someone we love and someone who loves us."

Thalia frowned and nodded. She didn't like it. She had hoped this camp would mean safety, not war.

/break\

Only months later did everything go downhill. The war happened. The so-called Battle of Manhattan and Luke didn't want to think about all the cruel things they had seen during that. All the death. The death of Drew. He stared down at her lifeless body, face screwed up.

"I—I... I killed her...", whispered Jason, tears building up in his eyes.

"It's alright, sh, it's fine", murmured Luke and pulled Jason into a tight hug. "You had to. She threatened Percy. And she wasn't herself anymore. Hadn't been for months now. You're alright."

He turned his head some to see Annabeth cradling Percy's head in her lap. He was bleeding, but Annabeth nodded, telling him that Percy was alright. He knew Thalia, Alabaster, Ethan and Leo were too – he had seen them earlier. Wounded, but alive. And that was all that mattered.

"Jay, come. Let's get you all cleaned up. Let's get all of us cleaned up", suggested Luke.

He lost track of his other important people when he went to the showers with Jason. Jason had killed someone today. Someone he had spend years with. After that realization, Luke looked at Jason. Really looked at Jason, for the first time in too long. Jason was fifteen. He wasn't the little boy Luke had taken in all those years ago. As they undressed and went to the showers, he noticed that. Jason was muscular, with tanned skin tightly wrapped around those muscles, a happy trail leading down from his naval. Somehow, he had been stuck with kiddo!Jason in his head.

"Luke?", asked Jason from the shower stall next to him.

"Yeah, Jay?", grunted Luke, shampooing his hair. "What's wrong? Does it hurt anywhere? We should have gone to the Apollo Cabin first, damn it. I knew it."

"I'm fine, stop fussing!", exploded Jason annoyed. "I'm not the six-years-old kid anymore! I can take care of myself. I'm fine, okay? Will and his siblings need to focus on those that really need their attention at the moment. Like Percy. He got a concussion is what Will said. And others... others are off even worse. No, that's not what I wanted to say."

"Then what is it?", questioned Luke as he got out of the shower, with his towel around his waist.

"I love you", mumbled Jason, face beet red as he stared up at the older blonde. "I have loved you for years now and I'm so sick of waiting for you to notice me!"

The son of Zeus forcefully grabbed Luke's face and pulled him into a harsh kiss. Luke stared surprised for a second, but then he laid his arms around Jason's waist. He knew. He had known that for a while now, he had just ignored it. With the war going on, with Thalia returning from the dead, with Percy and Leo arriving. Luke knew that it would be one of them. Either Jason or Percy, but one of them would be _his_. It seemed Jason had made that decision for him.

"That sounds good", grinned Luke, tracing Jason's scar with his thumb. "What do you say, we get dressed and then we'll go and see if Percy is awake yet? I think Annabeth and Thalia are too busy bossing everyone around at the moment. Let's see what our little Sea Prince is up to."

"I don't like when you call him that", frowned Jason annoyed. "It makes me jealous."

Luke laughed as they finished getting dressed. He grabbed Jason's hand, linking their fingers as he led the way out of the showers. He pulled the younger one closer, up against his side.

"I fear there's a whole list of those waiting for me now, mh? Things you don't like."

/break\

The battle was cruel, crueler than anything Thalia had ever seen. And it happened on her birthday. Her sixteenth birthday. Two days before Christmas 2008. Put a bummer on Christmas too.

But then there were the Jacksons and they managed to make Christmas quite awesome by inviting them over. Ethan, Alabaster, Thalia, Jason, Luke and Annabeth packed up and left to spend Christmas with Sally, Paul, Percy, Leo and Tyson. They were a cool and weird family.

"Thanks for having us", smiled Thalia as she was hugged by the brunette woman.

Sally smiled as she ushered everyone inside. Well, not entirely everyone. Thalia watched in amusement how Paul cornered Alabaster and Ethan, his arms crossed and a stern glare on his face.

"You two are _not_ corrupting my stepson, just so we're clear on that. If you hurt Leo, I will be forced to hurt you", warned Paul, blocking an embarrassed Leo from his boyfriends. "Now get inside."

Thalia grinned amused at the blushing Latino. Leo was an adorable little thing and she understood why Ethan and Alabaster had made him their pet/lover/plaything. She watched fondly how the three of them curled together on the couch. Annabeth, Percy and Tyson were setting a game of Monopoly on the living room table, the two demigods loudly discussing something while the cyclops laughed about it. Sally disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and returned with a tray of milk and cookies. Shrugging her jacket off, Thalia looked for Jason. After everything that had gone down in the last few days, she wanted to be close to her baby brother. But it seemed as though Luke was already quite busy being close to Jason. He was only a couple of months from being sixteen, but Thalia still didn't think she fully approved of her twenty-three years old best friend to be dating her baby brother. Then again, when she looked at Jason now, she saw him genuinely happy. Happier than she had ever seen him before in his entire life. He sat curled together on Luke's lap, head leaning against Luke's chest as the son of Hermes had his arms around his waist. They were sort of cute together. Still, Jason was her _baby brother_. Shaking her head, she decided to join the discussion on Monopoly instead. She liked Percy, he was fierce, honest, loyal, kind and sweet. Truth be told, after she had seen him interacting with Jason, she had kind of hoped they would end up together. And judging by the sad kitten eyes Percy kept throwing into Luke's and Jason's direction, so had he.

/break\

Luke's life officially sucked by the time February rolled around, because his new-found boyfriend had disappeared off the surface of the Earth. They had only been dating for two months and Jason already disappeared. He missed Jason like crazy and he was growing insane with worry. He had to do something, he just knew that. After all, he still was a hero, even though Percy and Jason had grown up to be heroes themselves. Luke took Percy aside to talk to him the day after Jason's disappearance and the little green-eyed angel looked no less worried than Luke.

"Listen, Perce. Jason is gone and I don't know what happened. I need to find him. He could be hurt, or worse. But... I really can't take you. I can't risk something happening to you", whispered Luke urgently. "You need to stay here, with Leo. Keep camp safe while I'm gone, okay?"

/break\

Jason disappeared, Luke left. Instead, they were now stuck with a self-claimed Ghost King. And Percy, even though he missed Luke dearly and worried for Jason, he could not help but be drawn in by the exotic beauty that was Nico di Angelo. A tall, olive-skinned man with strong muscles who looked all the picture of a Roman hero. And just like a Roman hero, he did not hesitate to make the conquest he sought out. It only took him a few weeks to have Percy in his arms, willing and greedy for more. Now it was up to the new couple to find the whereabouts of Jason Grace.

_~*~ The End ~*~_


End file.
